Politics & Government

Residents Buy Vacant Lots in Shaker on the Cheap

The city's Side Lot Program allows residents to buy adjacent vacant lots at a discount

Some vacant lots in Shaker Heights cost less than an iPod.

City Council approved a resident's application to buy a Riedham Road lot on Monday as part of the city's four-year-old Side Lot Program.

Council passed a resolution selling the lot to Shirley Brooks-Horn for just $50. She lives next to the lot and plans to use it as a side yard since most homes on Riedham don't have large backyards.

The selling price might seem dirt cheap, but the city believes such sales will yield more value in the future than they would as vacancies. Lots sold under program are typically ones where foreclosed homes have been demolished. When the city created the program in May 2008, it hoped to encourage neighbors to buy them in order to make capital improvements to their properties that could produce tax value and more land if a homeowner chooses to sell.

"These applications are consistent with the city's goal of encouraging side-lot expansions as one of the ways of retaining residents who otherwise would have to move outwards to have a larger yard," Director of Neighborhood Revitalization Kamla Lewis said. "In the long run, these consolidations expand our tax base because they increase a property's value."

The city acquired the lot in April after the Cuyahoga County Land Bank demolished the two-family home that sat on the land on the city's behalf. It had been vacant for about a decade, and the city viewed it as a blight problem. It was more than $90,000 delinquent in taxes.

The city pays about $1,800 per year to maintain a vacant lot, Lewis said.

The Neighborhood Revitalization Committee accepts side-lot applications on a "first quality, first served" basis, according to a city memo. Prices are negotiated with size, location, configuration and planned improvements in mind. For instance, three lots on Strathavon Road were sold in 2011 for $1 each. Heights Christian Church bought a lot for $1,000 last year to construct a community garden and labyrinth.

In May, council approved former Shaker Heights City Council member Allen Foster's application to purchase a vacant lot on Menlo Road with plans to make a $50,000 addition to his home.

"We very much appreciate your investment in ," Mayor Earl Leiken said to Foster that evening.


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